A passenger boarding bridge is a bridge in the form of a machine for transferring passengers between an airplane and an airport terminal. Commonly, a fixed tunnel is installed from the terminal to a rotunda, and a movable passenger boarding bridge is installed from the rotunda to the airplane, such that the movable passenger boarding bridge can swerve and move by using its wheels to be adjacent to the passenger boarding bridge of the airplane. Commonly, the movable passenger boarding bridge consists of an inner tunnel and an outer tunnel, and by moving the outer tunnel to accommodate the inner tunnel therein, a length of the movable passenger boarding bridge can be adjusted.
There should be proper air-conditioning at an airport terminal and in an airplane; however, the wall of the passenger boarding bridge is manufactured from glass in most cases, and outdoor air flows through the rotunda area, above a cabin, and through gaps between an inner tunnel and an outer tunnel of the movable passenger boarding bridge so as to make the temperature at the airport terminal and in the airplane higher or lower than the proper temperature, causing complaints from passengers. In order to eliminate this inconvenience, various air-conditioning and heating systems have been installed at the passenger boarding bridge.
Regarding the conventional air-conditioning and heating apparatus for the passenger boarding bridge to solve the above-described problem, Korean Patent Publication No. 1192296 (entitled: Cooling and Heating System and Cooling and Heating Control System for Boarding Bridge), for which the patent application was filed by the applicant of the present disclosure, and the patent was granted and registered, describes a tunnel air-conditioning and heating apparatus that includes a transversely rotatable turntable on a rotunda, arranges a condenser and a compressor on the turntable to be provided on the rotunda, and provides an evaporator on a movable tunnel, so as to facilitate air-conditioning and heating in the inside of the tunnel.
However, since the conventional tunnel air-conditioning and heating apparatus should provide the turntable on the rotunda to install an outdoor unit on the rotunda, and also install clamps to enable the turntable to rotate along with the rotation of the rotunda, it has had a problem of requiring more installation and operation costs.
Also, the above-mentioned patent describes an extended tunnel air-conditioning and heating apparatus, in which a diffuser cover is installed at an extended tunnel diffuser, and an opening/closing unit for opening and closing the diffuser cover is installed at a movable tunnel, such that the extended tunnel diffuser is opened and closed by moving the diffuser cover through contact with the opening/closing unit provided at the movable tunnel according to extension or diminishment of the extended tunnel.
However, since the extended tunnel air-conditioning and heating apparatus in the conventional air-conditioning and heating system for a passenger boarding bridge should make a mold to manufacture the diffuser cover and the opening/closing unit, it has had a problem of incurring high manufacturing costs. Further, there should be spacing between the diffuser cover and a housing of the extended tunnel in order to facilitate the sliding of the diffuser cover; however, wind blows through the spacing, and noise caused from the leaking wind results in a problem of noise in the inside of the tunnel. Furthermore, in the event that most part of the extended tunnel diffuser is closed, wind is converged at the opened part of the extended tunnel diffuser, and thus, wind volume and wind velocity overly increase, resulting in the inconvenience of fluttering the hair of passengers boarding the passenger boarding bridge.
Further, due to the installation of the large reciprocating compressor, the above-mentioned patent separately installs the compressor, together with a separate motor, on the outside of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit in the integrated form, so that high manufacturing costs and high electricity costs have been consumed, and the external appearance of the apparatus has not been good.